Scottish referendum polls end, huge turnout reported

London, Sept 19: Polling in the

to decide whether

should stay in the UK or become an independent country have closed and counting is under way, BBC reported.

Counting will be carried out through the night. The final result is expected after 06:30 local time(05:30 GMT) Friday.

A total of 4,285,323 people, which is 97 percent of the electorate -- registered to vote.

The counting will include votes cast from the 789,024 postal vote applications, which was the largest volume of registration for postal votes ever in Scotland.

Once the results from all 32 local authority areas are known, chief counting officer Mary Pitcaithly will declare the result of the referendum at the Royal Highland Centre outside Edinburgh, the report said.

IANS